Gymnast Dreams
by ligeisa
Summary: Mikan Sakura, a promising gymnast has got what it takes to go all the way to the Olympics, except she has to go through her hardest obstacle yet, the beam and her coach’s arrogant and boastful nephew. Full Summary Inside. MxN


**Disclaimer: I do not own Gakuen Alice!**

**Well, some of this story is by a friend in my school for an assignment. Hope you enjoy it. There are no alices in this fan fiction and they both go to very prestigious schools. If you're curious the pairings are MikanxNatsume and maybe a little bit of HotaruxRuka. Information was researched, some of the tricks come from the Stick-It website. I have no clue how Aoi looks like so I am making it up.**

**Summary: Mikan Sakura, a promising gymnast has got what it takes to go all the way to the Olympics, except she has to go through her hardest obstacle yet, the beam and her coach's arrogant and boastful nephew. Her rival and ex-best friend, Hotaru Imai, will do anything to take Mikan's spot to qualify in the Olympics, and in this stage, Mikan is surrounded by preppy, envious girls who would love to get rid of her and is willing to team up with Hotaru to get rid of Mikan from the qualification list. What more, her mother has high hopes for the gold and Mikan's not sure that she can achieve that. **

**Chapter 1: Star Performer**

A loud 'THUD' could be heard through out the gymnasium. All eyes went on Mikan Sakura, a 13 year old promising gymnast, who is envied by everyone. She was found sprawling on the floor just a foot away from the beam, her feet and hands were white from the non-stick powder used for gymnastics and she was wearing her practice leotard.

"Mikan, Mikan, Mikan!" The coach said repeating her name thrice. Mikan smiled a weak innocent smile, her coach didn't look too happy. She sat up and looked pleadingly at her coach.

"I tried my best. I swear I did! I'll try harder next time!" Mikan said, begging for another chance. Her coach looked sternly at her. "I did practice! I swear I did!" She continued.

"Mikan, I don't get it," The coach said pacing the floor, "you are like a graceful swan, bending and turning with such expertise when you're on the floor and vault, and on the bars you flip, spin, and turn like you have been doing it all your life, but on the beam… well, you're like a big elephant rampaging!" He said and shot her a stern look.

Mikan sighed. "I know! But I'm just not meant for the beam!" She whined.

"Mikan! Not meant for the beam is just like saying you're not meant for the Olympics," her coach put his hands on both of her shoulders, making her look at him, "but you are! I know that you can win the gold!" Her coach was now shaking her shoulders as if trying to wake her up from a deep trance.

He let Mikan's shoulders go. "Okay, now do that again! Now this time, just do a simple back bend," He said, stress lines appeared on his forehead. Mikan mounted the beam and attempted the back bend. Everything was going smoothly until her footing messed up, her feet shot in different directions. Just then her ex-best friend and her posse walked by.

"Smooth move!" Hotaru said, smirking, her now long black hair was put up in a neat bun and she was wearing a lavender training leotard, matching her stunning purple eyes, her posse laughed as they walked past. Her posse was made up of Nonoko, Anna, Sumire, and Melanie.

Melanie Berkeley just arrived at the prestigious Milestone High and joined the competitive gymnastics team. Her gorgeous brunette hair and deep set gray eyes made her one of the most popular girls in the school, but as one of the competitive elite gymnasts in the school, she never has time for anything besides gymnastics and studies.

Mikan brushed the strands of hair that came loose from her ponytail, off her face and scowled at her ex-best friend. Hotaru narrowed her eyes at her for a second, and then walked away.

The brunette sighed and hoisted her leg over to the other side, where her other leg was. She hopped down from the beam and looked at her coach for further instruction. She was the only elite gymnast in the school to have a private coach while the others worked in groups.

"Very well, today's practice is over, but," Her coached looked at her sternly, "practice on the beam!" Mikan nodded and smiled gratefully at her coach, and then she ran out of the gymnasium.

Mikan closed the double doors behind her; she breathed in deeply and sighed.

"Mikan! Mikan!" Two girls yelled out, waving excitedly, waking Mikan up from her trance. She smiled and jogged over to her friends, she was still barefoot and still wearing her practice leotard. The two girls glanced at Mikan's clothes.

"Are you going to change out of that anytime soon?" One of the girls asked with an obvious Australian accent, pointing at Mikan's leotard.

"Yeah, cause we don't really want to attract attention today," The other girl said with the same accent although it was less obvious. Mikan laughed along with her two best and only friends, Sienna and Lara Keane which are pronounced as (Cie-na) and (Lar-ah).

They are Australian twins; they both had the same dirty blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes, they were identical twins and you couldn't tell them apart except for one slight different which goes unnoticed by everybody, only Mikan found out the difference. Sienna always starts with her right foot when walking and Lara always starts with her left foot, they can't help it and whenever they try starting off with a different foot they walk as if they are disabled.

"Of course I'm going to change!" Mikan yelled out and softly nudged Sienna, making her fall over to Lara and making them both collapsed into the ground. Lara and Sienna grimaced as they picked themselves up from the ground, Sienna smoothed out her hair and made sure that her Boho Braid was still perfect and Lara smoothed out her plaid pink and gray mini skirt. A Boho Braid is basically a strand of hair French braided across the hairline.

Mikan checked her watch and gasped. "I forgot about rhythmic gymnastic practice! I'll so going to be late!" She said and started running off to the junior gymnasium, where practice was being held.

"Wait, you might need these later on!" Lara yelled out and handed her clothes.

"Thanks!" Mikan said and rushed off to practice.

Mikan stopped in front of the double doors of the gymnasium, she was panting heavily from sprinting the whole way, her feet ached from the gravel ground, her neat ponytail was now a chaotic mess, and her cheeks flushed a light pink.

Once she caught her breath, she stood up tall and walked purposefully into the gymnasium. Unlike her other activities that day, she enjoyed doing rhythmic gymnastics, one: it was relaxing and there was no pressure, and 2: it was recreational.

Mikan was expecting to be greeted by her wonderful rhythmic gymnastic coach, Kaitlyn, but instead a tall, strict looking coach strode towards her. Mikan gulped, it was Coach Handerson. She was the strict substitute that Kaitlyn used when she was either out of town or sick.

The coach scanned the nervous Mikan and pointed at the bucket containing ribbons.

"For punishment for your tardiness, a presentation is required to perform in front of the class," She said sternly, all Mikan could do was nod. She jogged over and picked out a pink ribbon from the bucket. Coach Handerson must have already informed everyone about her presentation since everybody was already seated, all waiting for her to start.

Mikan took a deep breath and collected herself. She strode confidently to the center of the gymnasium, but really inside she was bubbling with anxiety.

One of the rhythmic gymnasts walked over to the stereo and pushed the 'Play' button. Soon after, the music started.

Mikan started out with complex twists and bends, swirling the ribbon around, making everything look graceful and well practiced. After her time was up, Mikan got up from her position and pushed the 'Stop' button. She turned around to face the rest of the group and the coach.

The other gymnasts were gawking in amazement and Coach Handerson looked quite pleased, which made Mikan smile. The rest of rhythmic gymnastics went smoothly and throughout the class Mikan got compliments from various people.

Mikan exited the gym and looked at her watch, it was 5:42. She sighed and fiddled with the blue and white friendship braclet that Sienna and Lara made her, it's time to practice on the beam. Mikan cast her tired eyes over the school courtyard, searching for where the main gymnasium was. Sure she has been in the school for over a year, but the campus is so big that from time to time she gets a bit lost.

Her eyes cast over the fountains that were scattered around the courtyard and the beautiful variations of flowers and trees. She wasn't amazed at all this, she had seen them all before and besides, all she could think about was where the main gym was.

Finally, she spotted a familiar corridor that she guessed lead to the main gym. She jogged over and as predicted, she ended up in front of the double doors of the gym. Mikan sighed in relief and peeked through the glass section of the doors, nobody was inside.

She opened the door and went in, she was used to being alone in the gym and she liked it, there was no Hotaru or her posse anywhere to be found. Mikan confidently walked over to the beam and mounted it, but then she decided that she would warm up first on the bars.

Mikan walked half way across the room, her feet squished around the blue padding that covered the floor and stepped down onto the solid floor. She walked over to the supply closet and shuffled around for equipment. She finally found some bandages, Mikan was hoping for a pair of leather grips but it will do.

Mikan strode over to the uneven bars. The gym was silent, unlike this morning when all you could hear were echoes of landing feet and shouting coaches. Mikan sighed and looked up at the highest bar, which was 2.45 meters high.

She exhaled and swung her arms back and forth, getting ready to jump up. Mikan jumped up and caught the bar in her hands, she swing back and forth, finding her momentum. Suddenly the back door, leading from the indoor hall to the gym, swung open.

Mikan's coach stood behind a raven haired, ruby eyed boy and a black shoulder-haired and gray eyed girl, she looked much younger and was smaller in size.

"As you can see Aoi is in good hands," Her coach said, finishing his sentence. He then glanced towards the direction that Aoi and her older brother were staring at.

Mikan performed an Ono, a one-armed pirouette, first performed by Bi Wen Jing, then executed a perfect Comaneci Bars, releasing the bars, flipping while in a split position and catching the bars again. Mikan then dismounted with a Chousovitina, releasing the bars, twisting and flipping in mid-air, then landing.

"Wow! I would love to do that someday! Who is she?" Aoi asked. She was gawking in amazement as Mikan dismounted. Mikan's coach smirked with pride.

"That's our star gymnast, Mikan Sakura," The coach said.

**Hope you liked it! Working on the upcoming chapters and I finished this 2 weeks before the posting date, so I waited a while. Reviews are greatly appreciated. This might have been one of the better descriptive fan fictions that I have made. **


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